


level: arm holding

by peachyblush



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, acquaintances to friends, and chanyeol is ace, it's cute ig, jm is clumsy, suyeol have mental health problems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 06:02:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16989405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachyblush/pseuds/peachyblush
Summary: junmyeon has avoided chanyeol for three months and chanyeol is tired of it.





	level: arm holding

**Author's Note:**

  * For [taonsils (mirokkuma)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirokkuma/gifts).



> i panicked with the editing, i'll do it again tomorrow, soooooooooooooooooooooooooo. ANYWAY i hope u liked this leafy ;A; PLEASE LOVE SUYEOL N HAVE A MELTDOWN W ME ABOUT THEM (and !!! lemme know if you liked it!!!!!!!!)

They’ve been awkward ever since Junmyeon broke down in front of him, which was three months ago. Three _months_. Junmyeon hasn’t even looked at Chanyeol, avoided him better than a ninja, and every time they were crammed into a small place like their college studio, they’d barely try to pick up a conversation. There is so much tension between them, their friends tease saying it’s sexual tension, while they both struggle to be comfortable in other’s presence. Sexual tension is supposed to be…  _ different _ . He isn’t sure how it’s different, but it’s definitely not uncomfortable like this.

Today, though, he will talk to Junmyeon about it. He’s practiced everything, how he’s going to look while talking it, what he’s going to talk about, when he’ll do it. It’ll be quick, and Junmyeon doesn’t need to worry about giving the reply soon. He can take his time. It’ll be nice to breathe properly around him, honestly.

Chanyeol talks himself through the corridors till the college studio, ducking to get in there. It’s a tiny room, so much equipment, carelessly placed, he can barely sit properly in the seats, while Junmyeon has enough room to sleep here. “Hey, Junmyeon, I have something to tell you,” Chanyeol says loudly, he cringes. “You don’t have to avoid me, you know—”

The door clicks and he yelps, covering his mouth for a millisecond. Chanyeol can see through the blurry glass, it’s Junmyeon, but there’s something different— everything. Junmyeon isn’t wearing his usual sweatpants and t-shirt, his hair isn’t combed to the right. It’s completely different and Chanyeol was not ready for this Junmyeon, he practiced for the normal, pretend put-together-mess of Junmyeon, and this is the complete opposite. His hair is down, he looks the emo he actually becomes reading depressing stuff, he’s wearing jeans and dark yellow hoodie. He looks… snuggly.

“Hey!” Chanyeol squeaks, covering his mouth when Junmyeon stares at him. He looks away, at the keyboard in front of him. They don’t talk, pin drop silence in the room, they’re just existing there, working. It’s still a little uncomfortable, their both squirming in their seats as they work parallel on the project. It’s a _group_ project, but their studio can fit only three Junmyeon-sized people, and two Chanyeol-sized. They were good acquaintances, knew only each other in the comp class, hence, as a desperate measure, Junmyeon naturally chose him to work with. All four of them are meeting up next week to make major changes in their track— only a week to make this right just to make sure they do talk after the project is over. Oh no.

He gulps. He’s practiced this, he can’t mess this up. “Hey, Junmyeon.”

Junmyeon looks at him, through his hair, which’s grown so much it’s almost covering his eyes. He’s put hood over his head, slumped against the plastic chair, ankles touching each other. Somewhere between a cat and cute.

Chanyeol opens his mouth before he can chicken out. “I wanted to talk about something…? I just, don’t know how to put this,” Chanyeol glances at Junmyeon, then drops his gaze onto his lap. “You’ve been avoiding me.” It’s not what he planned. Not what he planned and he's panicking, he wants to thrash around like a fish out of water, maybe throw a tantrum before he continues, but none of that is an option right now.

“I…”

He tenses, hunching over the keyboard, avoiding looking at Junmyeon at all costs.

“I guess so.”

“Why?” He isn’t sure why he’s about to cry, he has this big lump in his throat, eyes sting with tears, he gulps down a sob. “I didn’t… do anything to you, did I?”

There is shuffling, he can only assume Junmyeon is moving around, and hunches further, fat tears already dropping on the keyboard. He shouldn’t be upset like this, it doesn’t make sense, why is he crying? They’re talking about something he’s perfected for a whole week, he shouldn’t be crying, he’s supposed to be in  _ control _ .

“I just— hey, are you crying?”

Chanyeol wipes his tears as quick as he can, and shakes his head. “I’m not.”

There is a hand against his back, and Chanyeol finally has the guts to look up, and finds Junmyeon staring at him, from this angle, it looks like he’s pouting. “I was embarrassed,” He says, it’s a whisper. “That it happened. I’m usually alone when it happens, and it was so embarrassing to break down over something so small.”

“It wasn’t small,” Chanyeol licks his lips. He’s okay, a little. Focusing on Junmyeon is helping. “I broke down over stepping on my favorite plant.” It’s not something he’s proud of, but it was a tiring day, the only plant which heard his tales was under his foot that day, bruised and probably crying. He still feels guilty about it.

“That’s different,” Junmyeon’s hand is gone, he steps back, giving Chanyeol space to turn and face him properly. “You didn’t cry over a little of cup noodles,” He chuckles, letting his neck loose, looking at their feet. “ _ That _ was fucking stupid.”

“Hey,” He accusingly jabs finger at Junmyeon. He isn’t being polite, but self-deprecating is bad and nobody is allowed to do that under his watch. His therapist says it’s okay to call these things out. “It wasn’t. It wasn’t stupid, okay? it was your last straw for that day, or week, or month. It wasn’t stupid, and if it was, I don’t understand how this and crying over a tiny plant can be considered. We cared about them, okay? We cared and it was a bad day, college is so hard, too—” He takes a deep breath. “I’m rambling, sorry. But, you get my point? It wasn’t stupid. It really wasn’t stupid.”

Junmyeon smiles, it reaches his eyes, and he feels nice for being reason of it. “Thank you,” Junmyeon mumbles, he goes back to his chair. “You’re a nice friend, Chanyeol.”

_ We’re friends now? _ Chanyeol thinks, squinting at Junmyeon.  _ What level of friends? Holding hands? Snuggling? Backhand kiss? Dramatic improvs? Which one? _

“What?” Junmyeon is grinning now, wide and almost teeth.

He shakes his head. “Nothing, I was just… thinking about something.”

“Cool,” they’re both conversing like normal people, now, Chanyeol likes the feeling. “Are you hungry, Chanyeol? I’m hungry, let’s grab some burger.”

They both stand, in quiet agreement, and make their way out of the studio one by one. “Burgers are unhealthy,” Chanyeol jokes, “Let’s get salad.”

“You’re boring—  _ woah _ !”

Chanyeol watches Junmyeon trip over his own foot, almost fall on his face, and grab his arm. This is fine, it’s just for support, this is okay, Junmyeon will leave it once he’s fine. This is fine.

“Clumsy,” Chanyeol grins. “You’re okay?”

“Fine, fine.” They’re walking through the corridors, and Junmyeon’s hand is still on Chanyeol’s arm, holding it in a gentle way, maybe a little hesitantly. Chanyeol just waits for Junmyeon to take his hand back. But it doesn’t come till they enter the grocery store, and Junmyeon wants to look at the stationary first. Maybe arm holding friends?


End file.
